One thing I’ve learned about straight-up advice is that most people don’t use it. But, you know what people do respond to? Stories. And that’s why I’m embarking on a new journey and will be offering short fictional stories to you soon! Whoah, wait—that’s not business writing! Tha … | Continue reading
If typing paragraphs is a painful act for you, but you need to write to get your work done, you need a strategy to overcome writer’s block. Bosses and clients won’t take writer’s block as an excuse to miss an important deadline. What is writer’s block? According to Seth Godin, i … | Continue reading
Ever wonder why news sites have lists of articles with not much more than a headlines and image? It’s because a headline and image are all it should take to entice someone to read further. In a matter of seconds you can decide whether content looks interesting based on what the h … | Continue reading
Writing your website copy doesn’t seem daunting until you open the blank page in your content editor and then type five words, backspace, backspace, type another 10 words, delete—”Agh, what am I doing?!” If you want to get things done on time with the least amount of frustration, … | Continue reading
You’ve likely heard of the importance of making the focus of your content your customer, but what does it really mean to write customer-centric website copy? Are you writing about your customer, are you relating to your customer, are you showing how you help your customer, are yo … | Continue reading
My dirty copywriting secret? I use a grammar checker! It’s true. When you spend as much time as I do typing and reading, words can begin to blur together and lose meaning — and that’s before the evening glass of wine — it’s hard to catch every tiny writing error. That’s right. I … | Continue reading
For many entrepreneurs and small businesses, it seems the dream is having a money machine that earns while you sleep. In order to do this, you need automation systems that take care of lead nurturing and administration for you. This is great because that’s the kind of work that c … | Continue reading
I think we can both agree that there are a lot of websites, landing pages, and emails out there with sub-standard copy. I don’t think it’s because the authors are careless. I think it’s because they care too much and therefore are their own worst enemy when it comes to writing. … | Continue reading
It seems counterintuitive to market to a small group of people when you could market to the masses, but unless you’re a well-established brand like Coca-Cola or Subaru, you’ll find it tough to build an audience fast enough to sustain you. Fangirl alert: I’m obsessed with everyth … | Continue reading
By Nora Wendel Stock photos save time. And time is money! Stock photography is made specifically for the purpose of providing you with images that you can use commercially for marketing. It can be unrealistic and really expensive getting professional photo shoots done every time … | Continue reading
Google is really good at writing really confusing instructions. I know, I’ve spent HOURS researching things through Google’s help site for clients. One of those things was how to use UTM parameters. Part of content marketing is measurement. If you’re running a specific campaign, … | Continue reading
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” − George Bernard Shaw How often do you actually refer to the notes you take during a meeting? Honestly, I can hardly understand mine most of the time. You can’t leave your communications and br … | Continue reading
It’s 3PM and I’m watching a Netflix doc about winemaking, the fan is blowing the scent of fresh laundry from my hung-up clothes my way, and I’m thinking about how frustrated I get when I read website content that is so complicated I have to read each line four times before I thin … | Continue reading
If you’ve gone through my site, you might be wondering: “WTF is content marketing?” I’ve done my best to explain it in normal human terms, but I completely understand how frustrating it is to think you’ve found a solution…but, you’re not quite sure what that solution is because i … | Continue reading
If social media totally overwhelms you, you’re not alone. When Amy Mitchell and I were writing “Social Media Guide for Small Businesses” we heard from a lot of people who felt they didn’t have time to do social media, so they did nothing. Or worse, they created a business page o … | Continue reading
Something’s not sitting quite right with me right now. I’ve read a lot of people’s social media posts, etc. lately saying they want to make a difference, but when they explain what that difference is, it becomes a sales pitch. Making a difference, social entrepreneurship, impact … | Continue reading
Last week marked the launch of my new co-written ebook “Social Media Guide for Small Businesses“! Getting the thing written and out the door was a true creative process, and a lot more work than you would expect. I’m happy to have popped my Amazon publishing cherry, but there are … | Continue reading
Need cheap freelancers? Want to work for pennies? Yes, that’s the general feeling for most people I’ve talked to about Upwork. I’ve experienced my fair share of bad feelings from freelancing websites, but if you’re just starting out as a freelancer or you’re just starting a busin … | Continue reading
In my experience, LinkedIn is one of the most underutilized social media channels. It’s not just a resume channel, but it doesn’t work like other popular social media channels like Facebook. LinkedIn tailors to a very specific audience. If you’re wondering, “what social media cha … | Continue reading
Pinterest is the cork dream shopping board of the internet. If you’re wondering if you should be on Pinterest, there are a few reasons below that will help you decide. What’s the point of Pinterest? Like Instagram, Pinterest is a very visual channel. Users scroll through their h … | Continue reading
Are you ready to join the #Instaparty? Instagram is one of the fastest growing channels, but it can be a tough one to build a meaningful following on. Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering adding Instagram to your social media marketing plan. Who’s on Instagram and … | Continue reading
Are you considering entering the noisy world of 140 character updates, retweets, and hashtags? Welcome to part 2 of “What social media channels should I be on?”, all about Twitter. And what a perfect coincidence that I ended up writing this post when #SaySomethingGoodAboutTwitte … | Continue reading
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Peach, Tumblr–it’s no surprise you’re overwhelmed trying to decide what social media channels you should be on. With more new channels popping up all the time, everyone is competing for your attention and they … | Continue reading
Social media scheduling tool make life SO MUCH BETTER. I can’t imagine doing all my social media without them. There are a lot of options out there, and finding the right fit can be really overwhelming. There’s nothing worse than setting yourself up on one, just to find out you i … | Continue reading
There’s no doubt about it, videos are a must if you’re breaking into the online world of business. With the extensive amount of paid and free resources out there, the technical aspects of this grand marketing technique could be easily mastered. All it takes is a bit of research o … | Continue reading
If you’re putting a lot of effort into posting amazing content on your Facebook fan page and seeing little results, it’s time to look at another strategy: Facebook groups. I’m not the only person who think Facebook pages are too much work for too little return. The thing is, th … | Continue reading